Affectionate
by Sevi007
Summary: Toshinori starts to show affection very easily around his students. The reactions he gets for that are not quite the ones he had anticipated - well, not all of them, at least. (Sort of AU)


Toshinori had feared retirement at first, if he was completely honest with himself. Not dreaded, no. Truly _feared._

Being a hero had been a part of him all his life long. First as the dream of a young boy who wanted to be something everyone told him he couldn't become without a quirk, later as his role, his job, his life. Being a hero, being _All Might,_ Symbol of Peace and the Pillar of Society, had been what he knew best.

Losing it had hurt, and sometimes he still asked himself what purpose there was for him. Was there any reason for him to remain here, in this world, when he couldn't be a hero anymore?

Those moments become fewer and fewer, though. Leftovers of his former fear, showing themselves only when he was alone and had too much time to overthink things.

His friends and his students gave their very best to not give him that time, though. It had quickly become common between all of them that most of their free time was spent together at the dorms. Not with doing anything together, but just _being_ together.

Just like they were now.

Toshinori had hardly ever felt as comfortable as he felt now. He was sitting on the couch, legs outstretched and feet resting on the coffee table in front of him, a blanket draped over his lap. The empty cup of tea stood forgotten next to his feet as he leaned against the armrest of the couch, chatting with Aizawa who had flung himself over the armchair opposite from the couch.

Their students were gathered in the living room as well. One after the other had shown up and just proceeded to fit into their relaxed evening.

Mina, Kaminari, Mineta, Tooru, Ojiro and Sero where lazing around on the ground, playing a card game. Nobody could remember which one it was, since they changed the rules as they went, making new ones up and laughing themselves silly over the stupid ideas they came up with.

Momo sighed, rolling her eyes at the six of them, but smiled nonetheless. She was testing out some of the sweets Satou had created. As she hit one particularly well-done piece, she chewed slowly, giving the grinning boy a thumps-up to give her approval before she offered the rest of the piece to Todoroki, who took it gingerly.

Satou basically beamed, taking notes of their opinion on the different pieces.

Kirishima snatched a few of the sweets for himself, diving back away from the kitchen counter over to where Bakugou was playing a video game on his hand held. The redhead offered the boy a second piece of sugary goodness, showing glittering sharp teeth in a grin as Bakugou mumbled something that sounded almost grateful.

Uraraka giggled at the sight of the grumpy boy actually sounding amiable for once, before she turned back to helping Kouda brush his rabbit's fur. The shy boy showed her how to scratch the pet behind the ears just the way it liked it. Uraraka beamed at that, excitedly showing Tsuyu how to do it, too.

Jirou sat next to the two, smiling to herself while she strummed her guitar, testing the tune with a few slow swipes.

Iida looked slightly stressed out where he was trying to explain Aoyama that he would not _wear the glasses Aoyama found fashionable, thank you very much._ Aoyama wasn't discouraged by that, patting the gesturing boy's shoulder reassuringly.

Shouji's eyes crinkled in amusement at the discussion of the two. He leaned over towards Tokoyami, saying something that made the shadow-user smirk.

Toshinori smiled at the sight of his students gathered here, momentarily distructed from his conversation.

Yes, he really had come to love this quiet, comfortable evenings. They made him feel warm and safe in a way he hadn't felt in a long time.

He felt like he didn't need a purpose to _be_ for once.

A slight tap to his hipbone pulled him from his thoughts, and the retired hero lifted his arm slightly.

Izuku used the opportunity to pull the blanket a bit tighter around himself, making sure that he didn't pull it off Toshinori's legs in the process. After that, the boy settled again, concentrating on the notebook in his lap again.

Toshinori huffed in amusement. Izuku had been tucked against his side for the good part of the last hour now, scribbling away into his notebooks. From time to time, the boy would look up, take measures of the people around him, and then pick up his work again. Toshinori could see drawings of Class 1-A take shape under Izuku's pen, hastily scribbled lines smoothing and combining into little pieces of art. Watching was almost hypnotizing.

Just as Toshinori was looking, Izuku stopped drawing for a second, using his free hand to stifle a yawn behind it. Blinking rapidly to get rid of the fatigue, Izuku shook his head a few times, trying to concentrate again.

"You're not listening at all, are you?"

Toshinori blinked, breaking away from the sight of his sleepy student to turn towards his discussion partner once again. "Sorry, I was distracted."

Aizawa lifted an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything. That was a good sign, surely. "What was the last thing you heard me say?"

"Uh… your lack of much needed caffeine?"

"I will need to repeat quite a lot, then."

"Sorry, sorry," Toshinori laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I will listen more closely this time."

"I doubt it."

"Oh, please, I'm not that bad!"

"You sure about that?"

Toshinori was ready to protest – he _was_ able to pay attention, after all, if he wasn't distracted by his students – when Izuku shifted next to him, tapping his mentor's forearm slightly while sitting up.

"I will go to bed now," Izuku announced quietly, only for Toshinori to hear, as he wrestled himself free from the blanket and made to stand up.

"Sure," Toshinori said, absentmindedly, still mostly focusing on the conversation with Aizawa. Without thinking about it, he reached out to Izuku as the boy leaned over him to climb off the couch. Pressing a quick kiss to his protégé's forehead right in front of him, Toshinori added, "Goodnight, my boy."

And with that, he turned back towards Aizawa, already opening his mouth to pick up the conversation where he had left off. But he didn't get the words out as he caught sight of his colleague.

Aizawa's mouth was opened ever so slightly, the man frozen mid-sentence. The expression of utter surprise was a very rare sight to see on the erasing hero's face, and it startled Toshinori quite a bit.

He hadn't said anything strange, right…?

Only then, his mind caught up with his actions.

Oh.

 _Oh!_

Toshinori whirled back around again, eyes going wide.

Izuku was still leaning over him, one foot on the ground, the other leg still curled under himself where he had been sitting on the couch. The boy was staring at Toshinori with eyes wide like saucers, one hand gingerly touching his forehead, while the blush creeping up Izuku's neck was slowly coloring his face an alarming shade of red.

"I'm sorry!" Toshinori blurted out, feeling his own blush creep up on him. His cheeks were positively burning. "I'm sorry, my boy, I wasn't thinking…!"

Izuku's mouth opened and closed, working silently, but no words came out. Just a little noise that sounded suspiciously like a little squeak.

And as if to make matters worse right on cue, a loud, squeaked "Awwww!" could be heard.

"That was so _cute!_ " Tooru was positively bouncing in place, her card game all but forgotten.

"Mido-chan, you're so lucky!" Mina piped up, seemingly torn between a pout and a wide grin. "I want a goodnight kiss from Sensei, too!"

Kaminari leaned back, grinning widely. "Man, we should have taken a picture of this!"

"Take a picture now," Sero suggested, laughing. "Midoriya's face is pure gold."

"Everyone, please, don't…" Toshinori tried to calm the situation down. Izuku was turning even redder, eyes hidden by his bangs, and starting to shake slightly.

Sadly, nobody heard the hero, everyone too caught up in their discussion.

"Is this the first time Sensei has given a goodnight kiss?"

"I think so? I've never gotten one myself, at least."

"It's cute. We should make this a tradition!"

"Yeah, I mean, we're like a blended family I guess? A goodnight kiss should be okay, right?"

"Yup! And since All Might-sensei is like a Dad to us all, he is just doing what a Dad should do!"

"Izuku-chan?" Tsuyu's gentle voice cut through the chattering. "Are you alright?"

The others hesitated, surprised at the sudden question, searching for the reason of Tsuyu's worry.

"Deku!" Uraraka was the first one to notice her friend's odd behavior. "What's wrong?!"

"His head looks like it will explode at any time," Mineta tried to make a joke of it, but even he looked worried.

"Midoriya?" Kirishima asked with a slight laugh, but it wavered a bit. "Uh, come on man, it's nothing _bad_ right?"

Very slowly, Izuku lowered his head and buried his face in his hands. There was another little noise, this time more of a choked off groan then a squeak.

The students stopped smiling, exchanging worried gazes. Bakugou huffed, frowning, but even he held back and didn't say anything mean.

Worried and feeling slightly guilty, Toshinori reached out and laid a hand on Izuku's quivering shoulder.

The boy tensed under the contact, but didn't pull away.

"Izuku?" Toshinori repeated, quietly. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I didn't really think about it, I just…"

 _My body just moved,_ he wanted to say, but he trailed off as he realized what that meant.

When had showing affection so openly become something that he didn't need to think about anymore?

Well, probably since he spent day and night with the children. They made being affectionate very, very easy.

A mumble made its way through Izuku's fingers, still pressed to his red face.

"What?" Toshinori leaned closer, trying to catch what the boy was saying.

"'S okay," this time, Izuku spoke slightly louder, but still not loud enough that anyone besides Toshinori could hear him.

Huffing, the former hero had to bite back a smile at that. "My boy, you're shaking. Don't try to reassure me when you're obviously not okay."

"I am," shifting slightly, Izuku blinked through his fingers, still not showing himself completely. "I'm… It's just…"

He trailed off in a mumble again, and the fingers snapped shut before his eyes.

Before Toshinori could press further, though, the boy spoke again, a hushed, frantic whisper, " _I'm just so happy."_

He needed a moment to process that, but when he did, Toshinori actually started to laugh, both amused and relieved.

Izuku peeked at him through his fingers, before he mumbled something and hide again. It had sounded a bit like ""That's not funny".

Still chuckling, Toshinori simply reached over and pulled the flustered boy against him until Izuku could bury his face in his teacher's shirt instead of his palms. "Oh dear. Don't scare me like that, my boy."

"Sorry," Izuku muttered, making no move to pull away again. "But you startled me."

"Well, I will try to warn you next time."

Izuku stiffened at that, fingers gripping the shirt a little bit tighter for a second, before he relaxed again and nodded slightly.

Toshinori had to swallow a mouthful of blood as he thought his words through again. He had… he had just promised that there would be a next time, right?

Ugh. Just why was his body often faster than his mind?

"Uh, Sensei?"

"Hmmm?" Toshinori looked up, meeting the gazes of the rest of his students.

Mina was standing in front of the couch, rocking on the balls of her feet, gnawing at her bottom lip. "Ummmm… could I get a goodnight kiss, too?"

She tapped her forehead for emphasis, smiling hopefully at the flabbergasted Toshinori.

Toshinori opened his mouth to say yes, but closed it again. That first kiss had been a reflex, something he had done without thinking. He wasn't even sure if he hadn't overstepped his boundaries with it. Was it really okay to make this a habit?

Hoping for a hint, he turned towards Aizawa, who had kept quiet throughout the whole display.

Aizawa lifted an eyebrow at him, seemingly knowing exactly what the other wanted to say.

"If you don't want to play favorites," the scruffy teacher said without needing any prompting, quiet amusement in his voice. "You will have to treat them all equally."

Toshinori didn't know if he should laugh or sigh. Sometimes, he wasn't sure if Aizawa was seriously offering advice or just making fun of him in some quiet, unreadable way.

But when he caught sight of Mina's round, hopeful eyes, and behind her the other students, more or less unsuspiciously glancing over to him just as hopeful… he knew then and there that just this once, his colleague was actually serious.

Shaking his head with a crooked smile, Toshinori waved Mina closer. "Oh, come here. But not everyone at once!"

"Yay!" Mina cheered, basically darting over to Toshinori. She didn't even mind that the former hero was a bit awkward about pushing her bangs out of the way and placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. In fact, she was basically bouncing in excitement, and as soon as Toshinori pulled back, she surged forward and pressed a sloppy but warm kiss to her teacher's cheek. "There you go, Sensei!"

Toshinori blinked, startled by the sudden action, but then he laughed softly. "Thank you, my girl."

And just like that, everyone started talking again.

"Me too, Sensei!"

"Can I have one, too? _Ribbit."_

"I don't know about a kiss," Kirishima mused, "But I could go with a hug!"

Bakugou looked at the redhead as if he had just lost his mind. "Are you fucking serious?!"

"Why? You don't want a hug from All Might-sensei?"

"Hell freaking no!"

"Nah, you're just saying that. Come on!"

"What the – lemme go, Hair for Brain!"

Toshinori had only a few seconds to prepare himself, before his students launched forward as one, basically burying him under them.

Pressed against the couch and shielding Izuku with one arm, Toshinori spluttered out with a laugh, "I said not everyone at once!"

There was some laughing and shouting, followed by a "Guys! You heard him!" but no one really tried to climb back off their teacher. It seemed as if everyone tried to get as close as possible without crushing the former hero.

It was too warm and they were heavy, but Toshinori couldn't find it in him to tell them to back off.

Izuku shook against him, quivering slightly.

It took him a moment to realize that the boy was _laughing._

Grinning himself, Toshinori teased, "Laughing at your poor teacher, are you?"

"Just a bit," Izuku laughed up at him, eyes crinkling with mirth and a grin splitting his face – and there was a rush of warmth travelling through Toshinori at the sight.

And when he wrestled himself free and reached around to deliver the hugs, pats and kisses the children wanted from him ("Come on, one after the other, please!") he knew all too well that he wouldn't, couldn't, didn't want to stop showing affection towards his students.


End file.
